Tie plate



F. E. ABBOTT.

TIE PLATE.

A PPLICAT|0N FILED MAR. 7, 1916. RENEWED JAN. 13,1922.

1,425,309. Patented Aug". 8, 1922'.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l- F. E. ABBOTT.

TIE PLATE. APPLICATION FILED MAR-7.1916. RENEWED JAN. 13,1922.

1,425,309, Patented Aug. 8, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET}.

unrrnu STATES PATENT omen.

FRANKLIN E..ABBOTT, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO LAGKAWANNA STEELCOMPANY, OF LACKAWANNA, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

Application filed March 7, 1916, Serial No. 82,635.

To all /1 am it may concern Be it known that I, FRANKLIN E. Anno'i'r, acitizen of the United States, residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erieand State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in TiePlates, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to hook-shoulder tieplates for railways of the typein which the tie-plate is formed with a shoulder on its upper surfaceprovided with a hooked portion to extend over the outer edge of the railflange I and engage therewith but spaced therefrom a small distance,whereby the rail is held very firmly in place, but freedom of wavemotion is permitted. The advantage of this is to diminish, practicallyovercome, disturbance of the road-bed and of the spikes, with anincrease in safety and a decrease in expense. This tie-plate with spacedhook is broadly new and is described and claimed in my application Ser.X0.

1 (329.654. resulting in Patent 1,178,200, Apr.

1t. 1916, of which this application is a continuation in part.

My present invention relates to certain improvements and modificationsin the tieplate of my aforesaid application whereby greater freedom ispermitted to the wave motion. without din'iinishing the security of thehold. The essential feature is the shortening of the hook in alongitudinal direction and preferably providing it with a curved lowersurface. so that It cngagcs with therail flange only at its center. andwith a very short contact. and curves upwardly and outwardly therefromso that it permits greater freedom of wave motion and entirelyeliminates rocking or rolling of the tie.

Other features herein shown are the arrangement of the spike-holes sothat directengagement between the spikes andthe rail is avoided; andthe. depressions between the shoulders at each end of the tie-plate inthe rail bearing surface. so that there is a rounded edge in contactwith the. rail base instead of a square or sharp edge.

My present form of tie-plate is somewhat lighter in weight and lendsitself to'longitudinal rolling in multiple bar form, the spaces betweenthe. hooks being formed with a corrugated roll. and the depressions orgrooves formed in; alignment with the spaces. The

TIE PLATE,

Patented Aug. 8, 1922. Renewed January 13, 1922. Serial No. 529,094.

tie-plates are separated from the rolled bar by shearing in the centerof the spaces and the depressions, without distorting the hooks, whichmay be bent over before the shearing, or after as may be desired. Thesehooks are preferably bent over into position in the last rolling pass.

My invention is illustrated in the drawing herewith in which the same,reference numerals indicate the same parts in all the figures. Figure lis an end elevation of my tie-plate showing the rail ii place. Figure21s a top plan and Figure 3 is an isometric view. Figure 4c is alongitudinal cross section of the tie-plate looking toward the hook toillustrate the curved lower surface of said hook. Figs. 5 and 6 show inend elevation and plan a modified form for use with driven spikes. Fig.7 is a similar form adapted for screw spikes. Fig. 8 illustrates therolled bar before the tie-plates are sheared therefrom. Fig. 9 is across section of the tieplate through the hook showing a slightlymodified form. v

In the figures 1 indicates the tie-plate base having a lower surfacewhich may be smooth as shown, or roughened or corrugated, or havingsharp edged flanges, the better to engage with the wooden ties, all aswell understood. On its upper surface are the peculiar hook shoulder 2and the straight shoulder 3, inclosing between them the bed, orrail-bearing surface, 4, as shown. At each end this bed is depressed at6 so that the rounded edge 7 comes in contact with the base of the rail8, instead of the usual sharp edge at the ends of the bed or surface.whereby the danger of cutting or nicking the. rail base is greatlydiminished. A sharp edge is commonly produced by shearing.

As best shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the shoul: der 2 is provided with a hook12 extending .inwardly over the edge of the rail-flange and the partsare so proportioned that when the rail is at rest there is a spacebetween the flange and the hook largeenough to permit freedom of wavemotion but small enough to insure enga ement'of the hook with the flangeat eaci upward 'movclnent of the rail when the train is passing so thatthe rail is secured very firmly but without ,rigidit Commonly the spaceis from to me not above about inch at the outside. \Vhile the shoulderextends from end to end of the tie-plate, the hook is much shorter, andpreferably formed as shown curved in a horizontal plane, and also havingits-under surface formed in a flat curve as best shown in Fig. 4 so thatit engages with the rail-flange only with the central portion of itslower surface. under surface of the hook, the extent of engagement withthe flange is very short, but this short engagement gives practically assecure a hold as a long engaging surface and has the advantage ofinterfering less with the wave motion, and of avoiding'undesirableclamping.

By reason ofthis curvature of the The straight shoulder 3 may be formedas shown with parallelridges 14' and the spike holes punched in thedepression between as best shown inFigs. 1 and 3. This affords a goodbearing for the screw spikes, or for the driven spikes either turned inwardly to-overhang the rail flange, or outwardly so that they cannot,engage therewith. On'the opposite side, the base outside of the hookshoulder may be slightly channeled as shown in' Figs. 1, 2 and 3 the v Ibetter to receive the screw spike heads.

I prefer the form of tie-plate shown in Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 9 where thespikes are arranged outside of the shoulders on both side of the rail oron the outside, or reversed, that is alternately on the inside andoutside. Some prefer this last arrangement, but I prefer to arrange themon the inside,- for then they not only hold the rail down in place ontherail-bed of the tieplate, but also prevent it from upsetting or rollingover, for it is the pressure from within that tends to upset the rail.

With the hooks reversed the guard-spikes are not needed, but with allthe hooks on the inside it is important-to .add guard spikes.

The advantages of my spaced hook might be obtained to some extent byproviding onlyva single shoulder on the tie-plate and that arranged onthe outside but such a structure would never be recommended, for thereshould always be a shoulder of some sort to engage with the rail-edge onthe opposite side. This might be a straight shoulder as here shown, butI' do not limit myself thereto or to my peculiar form of shoulder, forIhave devised a tie-plate in which the opposite shoulder is alsoprovidedwith a hook.

My tie-plate may be made by any suitable method, or means, for instancecast, but

preferably rolled, whereby many tie-plates sides, and there is no directengagement between the rail and spikes, so that there is little if anytendency to draw the latter. Where the spikes engage the rail, as in theusual method, they ,do not hold permanently. but always loosen owing tothe wave motion, and often are much displaced. If again driven home theengagement with the wood fibre is weak. But this loosening of the spikes.is avoided by the tie-plates be balanced that is of equal my indirectmethod of'securing the rail, in

which the spikes secure the tie-plate, and the tie-plate, by means ofits hook. secures the rail. This is one of the advantages obtained withmy. peculiar spaced hook, for

' while the s ikes might be arranged in the same way with a tie-platehaving a hook fitting the rail-flange tightly ,yet sue a hook has notbeen, and would not be, used:

to any extent for it would not allow free wave motion nor reduce thedisturbancetial risin r of the rail and anv 'reat effect on theguard-spike.

The hooks may be arranged on the Inmay be producedat one operation inasingle bar, complete with hooks, spaces, d epressions and roundedshoulders. 'Such a bar, or slab, is shown in Fig. 8. Thespaces betweenthe hooks, and the aligned groovespermit easy separation of theindividual plates by shearing, also without danger of distorting thehooks.

While not essential, yet it is desirable that width on each side of thelongitudinal axis of the rail-bed between the shoulders whereby they arebetter adapted for reversal-aml otherwise more convenient for use.

Having described my invention I claim,

1. A tie-plate for railways comprising a base having a shoulder on itsupper surface, said shoulder being provided with a hook adapted toextend over the edge of the railflange and engage therewith to preventup ward movement of the rail but spaced therefrom slightly, said hookbeing shorter longitudinally than the tie-plate and having a curvedunder surface forming a short surface for engagement with the rail.

2. tie-plate for railways com .)rising a base having a shoulder on itsupper surface. said shoulder being provided with a he arranged to extendover the edge of the rail flange and engage therewith to prevent ma--terial upward movement of the rail and to leave a space between the hookand the rail flange to permit slight upward movement of the rail. whenthe train is passing, said shoulder extending from end to end of thetwplate and said hook being shorter-in a flat bed, said shouldersextending from end to end of the tie-plate, one being straight and theother provided with a hook substantially shorter longitudinally than itsshoulder and arranged to exten over the edge of the rail flange forengaging therewith and preventing substantial upward movement of therail, said hook having a curved edge. and having its lower surfaceformed in a flat curve to afford a surface for engaging with the railflange substantially shorter than the hook, said hook being arranged toleave a small space between its engaging surface and the rail flange toavoid rigidity and permit slight upward movement of the rail when thetrain is passing.

4. A tie plate for railways having two integral parallel shoulders onits upper surface spaced to receive the rail between them snugly butfreely, the surface between said shoulders-forming a flat-bed for therail base, one of said shoulders being straight and the other having ahook adapted to extend over the edge of the rail flange and spacedtherefrom a small distanceto permit a slight upward movement of therail, sald upper surface being provided with a slight depression at itsends between the shoulders to prevent contact between the under surfaceof the rail and the edges of the end of said surface, the ends of theflat bed being formed with rounded edges.

5. A tie plate for railways adapted to prevent disturbance of the spikesand having two shoulders on its upper surface one shoulder beingstraight and the other being provided with a hook adapted to extend overthe rail-flange edge and spaced therefrom a small distance' to avoidrigidity and to permit a slight upward movement of the rail, saidtie-plate being provided with spike holes outside of each shoulder, for

securing the tie-plate to the tie by spikes entirely out of contact withthe rail.

' 6. A-tie-plate for railways adapted to prevent disturbance of thespikes and having two shoulders on its upper surface one shoulder beingstraight, and the other provided with a hook adapted to extend over therail-flange edge and spaced therefrom a small distance to avoid rigidityand to permit a slight upward movement of the rail, said tie-plate beingprovided with spike holes outside of each shoulder and with a spike-holethrough the straight shoulder for a guard spike to engage with the edgeof the rail flange.

7. A tie-plate for railways comprising a base provided with a bearingportion for the rail base, said bearing portion being formed withmarginal depressions at each end of the bearing surface of a form toprovide rounded off marginal edges on the bearing surface substantiallyas described.

8. As a new article of manufacture a rolled bar having a base portionformed with longitudinally extending and oppositely arranged flanges onthe upper surface thereof, one of said flanges being formed with turnedover hooked members said flanges being spaced to provide bearingportions for a rail base therebetween and said bearing portions beingseparated by depressions having rounded off edges and said hookedmembers being spaced apart and positioned relative to the respectivebearing portions substantially as described.

9. A tie-plate for railways having two integral parallel shoulders onthe upper surface spaced to receive the rail flange between them, one ofsaid shoulders being straight and the other having a hook adapted toextend over the edge of the rail flange and spaced therefrom a smalldistance to permit a slight upward movement of the rail, and marginalsecuring portions on the outer sides of the shoulders and said tieplatebeing formed to extend substantially an equal distance on both sides ofthe central axis of the rail bed substantially as described.

10. A tie-plate for railways comprising a base having a shoulder on itsupper surface, said shoulder being provided with a hook adapted toextend over the edge of the rail flange and engage therewith to preventupward movement of the rail flange, said hook being shorterlongitudinally than the tieplate and formed with a curved under surfaceproviding a short surface for contact with the rail.

11. A tie-plate for railways comprising a base having a shoulder on itsupper surface, said shoulder providing a' hook portion adapted to extendover the edge of the rail flange and engage therewith to prevent upwardmovement of the rail and said hook being formed with a convex undersurface providing a short surface for contact \vitl the rail.

12. A tie-plate'for railways comprising a base having an integralshoulder on its upper surface extending from end' to end of thetie-plate, and said shoulder being provided at about its middle with ahook shorter in longitudinal extent than the shoulder and arranged toextend over the edge of the rail flange, to leave a space between thehook and the flange to permit slight upward movement, but to preventmaterial upward movement, of the rail.

13. A tie-plate for railways comprising a the rail and said tie-platebeing of equal width on each side of the longitudinal axis of the railbed.

14. A tie-plate for railways having a base and'two integral parallelshoulders on the upper surface thereof including between them a bearingsurface for the rail, the ends of said surface being formed withmarginal depressions of a .form to provide rounded ofl'edges so that anon-sharp edge will come in contact with the under surface of the rail,-and one of'the shoulders onl Y having an in.- wardly extending portion,t e other shoul- I der being straight.

15. A tie-plate for railways comprising a base having a shoulder on itsupper surface. said shoulder providing a hook adapted to extend over theedge of the rail flange and engage therewith toprevent upward movement'of the rail flange, said hook being shorter longitudinally than the tieplate and formed with a curved under surface providing a short surfacefor contact with the rail and said tie-plate being formed with marginaldepressions at each end .of its bearing surface of a form to providerounded off edges on the bearing surface, substantially as described.

16. A tie-plate for railways comprising a base having opposite shoulderson its upper surface and spaced to receive the rail between them, atleast one of said shoulders being provided with a hook adapted to extendover the edge of the rail flange and formed with a curved under surfaceproviding a short surface for contact with the rail and said tie-platebeing provided with spike holes outside of each shoulder for indirectly46 securing the tie-plates to the tie by spikes out of contact with therail.

17. A tie-plate for'railways comprising a base having a shoulder on itsupper surface, said shoulder having an integral hook por- 50 tionadapted to extend over the edge of the rail flange and spaced therefromand said hook portion being shorter in longitudinal extent than theshoulder and of arcuate contour tapering to a reduced free edge therebyto have a limited area of contact with the rail.

l8.'A tie-plate for railways comprising a base having oppositelypositioned shoulders on its upper surface, one of said shoulders havingan integral hook portion adapted to extend over the edge of the railflange and spaced there-from, said hook portion being shorter inlongitudinal extent than the shoulder and of arcuate contour to have alimited 05 area of contact-with the rail and said hook being arranged toleave a small space between its engaging surface and the rail flange topermit slight upward movement of the rail with relation thereto, andsaid op- 10 posite flange being perforated to receive securing spikesand being of such-height as to similarly space the spike heads from therail flange substantially as described.

19. A tie-plate for railways comprising a base having a shoulder on itsupper surface, said sho der having an integral hook portion adapted oextend over the edge of the rail flange and said hook portion beingshorter in longitudinal extent than the shoulder and of arcuate contourand having its under surface of convex curvature thereby to provide fora short surface of contact with the rail flange.

In testimony whereof I have signed my 35 name to this specification.

FRANKLIN 4E. ABBOTT.

